


Hero

by CompactDisc



Series: Aftermath [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:48:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27482983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CompactDisc/pseuds/CompactDisc
Summary: Roman won't look at Janus. Janus has tried everything, but he can't even seem to get them in the same room together.Until Thomas summons both of them.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders
Series: Aftermath [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2008288
Comments: 2
Kudos: 72





	Hero

#  **Tags: Roman angst, Roceit (platonic or romantic)., Hurt/Comfort. Warnings: Self-hatred, Breakdowns, Crying**

Roman wouldn't look at him.

Janus had tried everything. He'd approached him in the hallways, trying to apologize. Roman had walked right passed him. He'd tried to gently add himself to a conversation. Roman went silent, stopped contributing, sometimes even left the room. He'd asked Patton to try and get the prince to talk to him, but only grew more concerned as Patton told him he hadn’t gotten a word out of the creative side since the episode.

He would never admit it, but he was scared. Roman had never been this quiet before.

Until Thomas summoned both of them.

Of course, Janus surprised to say the least. He’d been summoned more and more often recently, but that did nothing to help with the shock of needing to rise into the living room. Of being wanted there, _wanted_ to contribute, _wanted_ to speak his mind.

And the room had never been this quiet. 

Janus supposed he’d have to speak first. “Thomas, as lovely of a surprise this is.. May I ask why we’re here?”

“A new audition!” Thomas grinned. “It’s not a callback, sure, but it’s close! I decided I should ask you two for input on who to try out as, seeing as you’re the most- erm- actor-vibe sides?” 

Janus nodded. He was about to open his mouth when he heard a grumble from Roman. His head jerked to the side, trying to catch what the other was saying.

“What was that, Ro?” Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I said, don’t schedule it yet.” Roman looked up for once, and Janus nearly winced at the sight. There was no life, no spark in his once-sparkling brown eyes. He looked hallow. “We don’t know if something else is going to come up. There’s no use getting your hopes up.”

“We don’t have anything planned.” Janus interjected, trying to hide his worry with his usual smooth, calm voice. “Why not schedule it? We all agreed that it was a bad idea to skip it last time.. We shouldn’t make the same mistake again.”

“Yeah, that’s what you’re saying now. That’s what Patton probably is too, right?” The Prince shut his eyes, head tilting to the ground again. The scaled side recoiled a little. It hurt more than he’d like to acknowledge to hear the pain in the other’s voice. “Everyone’s opinion changed last time. I hurt you. I did the wrong thing. I don’t want to do it again.”

Janus froze, slowly glancing at his host, who seemed at a loss for words. He carefully composed himself and dared to take a step closer to the Prince; near-instantly regretting it as the other flinched away. “Roman..” He started gently, keeping his voice level and calm. “You know we don’t blame you for what happened.. Right?” That seemed to do it. The fanciful side let out a scoff; not so much sarcastic-sounding as it was dejected. “Why not?” Janus recoiled again. “It was my fault. Everything that happened was. I hurt Thomas. I hurt Patton.” His voice grew weaker and wavered. “I hurt you.”

“Lie.”

Roman’s head shot up.

“You didn’t do anything.. worse than the rest of us did.” He sighed, keeping his voice as gentle as possible. “Opinions change. People change. You did what you thought was right. No one would blame you for that.” He looked off to the side, resting his gloved hand over the side of his own face.

“I hurt you.” 

“And I retaliated with the same.” Janus glanced back. “Roman, you made a mistake. I did too. Do you think I’m any less worthy of love?”

“Of course not!”

“Then why are you holding yourself to a higher standard?”

Roman’s eyes welled up with tears, and there was instant regret in the reptilians side’s heart. He wanted to take it all back. He wanted to reach out and pull the prince into a hug, to apologize relentlessly.

Then ever so quiet, he heard a whisper. “Because I hurt you first.”

Right there is when Janus felt his heart shatter.

“Roman, Roman, no..” He took a step closer to the other. This time, the prince didn’t cower away. “The pressure was high. You were hurt long before the name calling..” He reached out and grabbed the other’s hand. “I’m sorry, Roman. I’m sorry you’ve been feeling this way and I’m sorry I let you think you’d hurt me beyond repair.” 

Roman met his eyes once more and finally, the floodgates burst. He broke, he sobbed and covered his eyes in embarrassment. Janus hurt at the sight, and slowly, cautiously, brought the other into a tight hug. When he latched on, he looked over at Thomas who looked nearly as troubled as him, and nodded in some sort of approval to sink out.

\---

Janus’s room was warm. 

The walls were black and laced with fancy golden patterns, his canopy bed discretely hidden from view and tucked away in the corner closest to the heater. It was quiet, too, quieter than Roman’s room ever would be, calm and orderly and just the sort of comfort he needed in the moment.

He was so entranced at the room that he jumped as he felt Janus tug him in the direction of the bed, urging him to sit down. He listened, perching at the edge, pulling his legs to his chest and hugging them. He resisted the urge to cry again as the snake side cupped his face with a hand. 

“Oh, Roman..” He sighed, wiping a stray tear away. The prince squeezed his eyes shut, half prepared for a ridicule about breaking in front of Thomas like that, despite how out of character it would be. Instead, he just felt the other run his gloved hand through the mess he felt disgraced to still call his hair. “We’re going to have to talk about this more tomorrow, but you could seriously use some rest.. Would you like me to take you back to your room?”

His eyes shot open and he shook his head violently, internally criticizing himself for the desperation, but only received a gentle nod from Janus. “Well, then, would you like me to stay here with you?”

“...If- If you wouldn’t mind-

”“Of course not, my prince.” He snapped his fingers and Roman felt himself changed into the warm familiarity of his beast onesie. “You’re always welcome to stay here as long as you’d like.”

Roman let out a weak laugh as Janus gently moved him under the covers, sniffling quietly as the snake-like side climbed next to him. He couldn’t help but close his eyes as he felt the other resume carding through his hair, looking back up to meet the mismatched eyes. “Go to sleep, Ro. I’ll still be here in the morning.”

That was the last thing Roman needed as he drifted off into a dream, feeling warmer and safer than ever. He didn’t even hear the half-asleep whisper next to him.

“You’ll always be my hero.”

**Author's Note:**

> An optional ending to the pervious work, "Better"! If you see another ship you'd like in a future work of this series, lemme know :)


End file.
